This was the ride I intended to do on Saturday. Got a late strat but did it... even though there were some headwinds on the return.

I've hit 600 miles for the season but have a LONG way to go. That 43 miles felt a lot harder than it should have.

Well.. rear tire blowout! exciting! I hit a rock... fortunately it damaged the sidewall of the tire but didn't fully puncture it. Also fortunately I remembered the trick of placing a dollar bill between the tube & the damaged tire to reinforce the weak spot. This is called a boot, and I had a ten-dollar boot.

Also, I am NOT prone to flats (knocking wood vigorously) and the last time I changed a flat was in 2005. But, I remembered what to do, even the tricky bit of getting the wheel & gears re-engaged with the chain. Only took 30 minutes to make the change! And I didn't have to swear to get the tire back in place!

So, all in all, an adventure, but not much of a ride. As soon as I was inflated I turned around and went straight to the mechanic where I spent $120 on new tires.

I really don't know the elevation gain on this ride. The peak is 1746, and I'm starting from near-0, and there is some drop/re-climb on the ride.

I don't remember the exact details of the ride - UP, and then DOWN, but down a different route.

(Tunnel - Skyline - Grizzly Peak - Skyline - then DOWN Snake/Thornhill, and Moraga home.)

it took me 1:40 to go up 10.5 miles, then :27 to get back down again! (so that's about 6.5 mph average speed up, and 21 mph down)